Jessie-Lee Daniela-Ranford, left, and her father, James Lindsay Ranford. The pair was due to be sentenced in the Hamilton District Court today on a charge of burglary but the case was adjourned. Photos / Belinda Feek
Jessie-Lee Daniela-Ranford, left, and her father, James Lindsay Ranford. The pair was due to be sentenced in the Hamilton District Court today on a charge of burglary but the case was adjourned. Photos / Belinda Feek
A former Armourguard employee used the company’s special codes to raid almost $200,000 from an ATM machine in a heist she executed with the help of her father.
And while police have managed to claw back more than $30,000, just over $159,000 remains outstanding, with a police officerearlier suspecting it may lie buried on the Coromandel.
The heist was carried out by former Armourguard employee, Jessie-Lee Daniela-Ranford, 26, who enlisted the help of her now terminally-ill father, James Lindsay Ranford, to act as her getaway driver.
The pair reappeared in the Hamilton District Court today, where they were due to be sentenced on two charges of burglary.
However, Judge Glen Marshall adjourned the case to allow them to try and remember where the stolen money is.
“One issue I have with both defendants is that they both say that the other has had control of the money,” Judge Marshall put to Ranford’s counsel, Shelley Gilbert.
“I have talked about that, but I don’t think the money is coming ... as of today, I have no instructions about the money,” Gilbert said.
Jaiden Manera, counsel for Daniela-Ranford, said the only money she had retained was used to buy a vehicle, which was then seized by police.
Jessie-Lee Daniela-Ranford, left, and her father, James Lindsay Ranford. The pair was due to be sentenced in the Hamilton District Court today but the case was adjourned. Photos / Belinda Feek
“So all in all, Ms Daniela-Ranford, on her instructions, simply was not the beneficiary of the monies.
“That’s as far as I can take it.”
‘The heist’
It was May 31, last year, at 4.16pm when Ranford and his daughter, in a rear passenger seat, parked up outside Yukedas Party and Gift Store in Hillcrest.
The pair had slightly altered the registration plates of their Nissan Tiida by changing one of the numbers.
Dressed in all black, Daniela-Ranford got out of the car with her hood up and walked into the store and went straight to an ATM cash machine.
She entered two codes and removed five canisters containing $50 and $20 notes, court documents say.
She then got into the back seat of the car, and Ranford took off “at high speed”, heading east along Clyde St.
A short time later, the Nissan was set alight on Holland Rd, Eureka, on the outskirts of Hamilton.
The pair was captured on CCTV at Z petrol station in Hautapu in their Mitsubishi Outlander, registered in Daniela-Radford’s name.
At the hearing, Gilbert successfully asked for her client’s sentencing to be adjourned so home detention could be explored as a sentencing option.
Police prosecutor Jamie Rowney confirmed $159,300 was still outstanding.
Police had gathered $28,000 from the vehicle seizure and found $5000 “laying around” in one of Ranford’s vehicles.
He labelled their offending as “significant and egregious,” which had a significant financial implication on the victim company, and there had been no attempts by either defendant to return the money.
“I’m aware that Mr Ranford, in particular, knows where that money is.
“He has not made any effort to return even a small amount.
“This offending has caused real harm to the community.”
Manera responded and said Daniela-Ranford had been “unequivocal” in that she didn’t have the money.
Judge Marshall agreed to adjourn the sentencing and relax Daniela-Ranford’s bail condition, avoiding contact with her father, so the pair could work out where the remaining money is.
They were both remanded on further bail to reappear for sentencing next month.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.
